Happy Birthday sous chef!
Well, that was almost two weeks ago but I am still thinking about the amazing dessert I came up with! Parents only this time – although little people could still munch on some things:)
I recently discovered green coffee – after initially being really skeptical I have to say I am in love. It’s nothing like coffee, it tastes really weird but it’s super mega addictive. And it keeps me awake! And how! (and that’s why I am saying it’s only for parents;)) The great thing about green coffee is that it’s so much lighter on my stomach than normal coffee and it has a very delicate taste – that’s why I thought it could work so well as star ingredient for my sous chef’s official birthday dessert 2015.
The real test, however, has yet to come. My parents hate black coffee and I grew up eating an imitation of real tiramisù, where sponge fingers would get soaked in egg liquor instead of coffee -mega yummy, but not traditional! We are going to Italy for a bit of holiday tomorrow and my mission is to get my parents (but my dad in particular) to eat a dessert that technically has coffee in it – challenge accepted! The question is: should I tell him beforehand or play ignorant?
Ingredients for 4 little jars of tiramisù
Green coffe
1 bag of green coffee
250 ml boiling water
1 tsp sugar
Let the green coffee bag infuse in hot water for 5 minutes and add a tsp of sugar.
Sponge discs
20 gr butter, molten
60 gr caster sugar
2 eggs
150 gr flour
8 gr yeast
a pinch of salt
Preheat the oven 180 degrees C. Place all the ingredients into a bowl and beat them until you get a smooth mixture. Cover a tray with baking paper and pour the sponge mixture onto it. Spread the mixture until you get a square about half a cm thick. Bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes until golden brown. Take out of the oven and let the it cool. Once cool, cut out discs (5 cm diameter) with a cookie cutter.
Custard
400 gr milk
60 gr cream
65 gr egg yolks
50 gr caster sugar
25 gr corn starch
half a vanilla bean
Beat the egg yolks, the caster sugar and corn starch. Cut the vanilla bean in half and scrape the pod halves – mix the vanilla with the custard mixture.
Mix the milk and cream in a sauce pan and bring them to the boil. Pour them into the custard mixture and keep stirring until the custard thickens up a bit and it’s lump-free. Pour everything back into the pot where you heated the milk up and cook over low heat for a few more minutes until the custard thickens a bit more(not too much, it’s meant to be more like a vanilla sauce) .
Pour the green coffee in a bowl and soak the the sponge discs. Alternate soaked a sponge disc and custard until you run out of space in your jars.
Refrigerate for a few hours – serve cold with some crushed hemp seeds!
Little people will be happy to dip bits of unused sponge in some vanilla sauce, just so you know 😉
